Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-02
WHEAT CORNERS.
HISTORY OF THE LAST ANO MOST
DISASTROUS ONE.
How the Pulls Had te Actually buy Up
All the Wheat In store in Order to
Max. the Corner-PhiIosophy Of Corners
..f All Kinds Explained.

CHICAGO, june IA lew uaNs ago cS-
clone struck the wheat corner OF 1887, and q
few hours later nought was left but mass OF
ruins and horde Of wild and shrieking vic
tins Chicago has become accustomed to
corners: they are nothing new here, and yet
the town has rarely been so stirred up as by
this speculative collapse. This was the
biggest corner ever attempted in this market,
and quite naturally, the tumble was terrific
one once II had started. IL WAS a most mys-
teriuus deal, too. Along in the last days Of
March the grain gamblers here first be-
gan 20 feel that some outside influence of
large resources and definite purpose was
at work in the market. bulling the price
NJ wheat so far could be discovered
the clique's headquarters were at Cincinnati,
whence came all orders To the brokers
in this city. The kilograms were simply
signed "W." No one outside of the Office,
of four five brokerage firms knew who
was furnishing the money for the operation.
There were many surmiSes, which have i'll
part turned out correct but as a matter Of
fact such caution and secrecy We're maintained
by the clique that for more than two months
the identity of the principal manipulators Of
the grain market was quite unknown. There
WAS, however, no doubt about the ciques
PURPOSE, WHICH was Ia OBTAIN control OF the
grain market by the sheer force Of capital,
push up the price, and squeeze big profits out
ol all who dared stand in their way. There
was nothing III the state "r trade, in the
condition of the new crop, To warrant such a
movement for higher prices; but these purse
proud schemerS, exaggerating their own
shrewdne>> and the power of their wealth,
plunged ahead regardless Of the laws of
. 4
which make markets. and in this collapse of
| their enterprise meet with retribution most
| Just and Hitting.
IL was very large contract which the
clique took upon themselves. The operation
of corneilng wheat Is "a very simple one ant,
All easy thing 10 accomplish, providing yo,r
have purse of sufficient length and breadth.
| There is nothing legitimate about all enter
prise OF this sort any more than there wouli
lie about scheme 10 buy up all the bread in
the village of Smithviile, with the idea Of
compelling the inhabitants TO pay an extra
nickel loaf or go without bread for their
dinners; but in carrying out their operation
the conspiratois found it necessary TO do a
little business that is ordinarily considered of
! a legitimate kind. Upon beginning their
deal they found about 10000 of bushels of
! Nutdi u tait blS titSdtsls in THIS cifN, lllS
they had 10 buy outright-not on margins,
! but for cash-and for this cash wheat they
! paid rather more than eighty cents a bushel
/ Here was an investment, of more than three
millions and IA half of dollars Possession of
the stock IN store comes high. but the cor
nerers had to have IT, Nor was this all As
/ the price of cash wheat gradually rose under
manipulation from eighty cents toward
II
about time to market. Elevator men shipped
wl.at they had on hand, and the old farmers
/ who are always holding for rise" emptied
their granaries. Wheat soon began pouring
into Chicago from all quarters. and rather
sooner than the Clique had looked
for the huge elevators were full 10 their very
roofs All this wheat the conspirators were
compelled to buy; and in this manner
S3.5S,oU were invested. Why did the
clique need 10 own the warehouse receipts
for ali this grainl Simply that by such
monopoly it pight create Corner With
the clique holding all the wheat in town
nobody else could offer any for sale: and with
no offerings prices We're bound to go I'D. 1t
| must he remembered, however, that g. 600.
90 were not needed to gain control of the
ld,I1,oO bushels of wheat ia store As fast
as one batch of elevator receipts were pur-
chased the clique's agents sent them To the
banks as collateral and on them borrowed
money TO the extent of TO or Is cents bushel
and used the funds thus secured in buyIng
more warehouse receipts, Thus the actual cash
outlay which the clique found it necessary To
make for the wheat in store was about twenty
cents bushel, or more than s, 90, ,OU0 But
this was only the foundation stone for TN.
corner building, and the superstructure, as
We shall see, cost the designers several mil.
lions more.
The scheme in running Il corner is to buy
and hold the actual stuff in order TO send the
prices up, and at the same time go around
| making wagers with a lot of fellows that
prices will advance. That is Just what the
CLIQUE did. While it was investing three or
tour millions in cash wheat, il was also
placing bets Of three or four millions more on
the market. That WAS the option or "fu-
| lures part of the operation-the grain
gambling On margins.
Well, for long time the conspiracy ap-
peared to be getting along in Ii swimming
way. Everybody had confidence in the
clique and its ability To raise all the funds
needed to carry on lis great deal. At the
end of May it had raked in a few hundred
thousands of profits on options for that
month, and already during June a number
of --shorts'-that is, Spectators who had
wagered that wheat was not going higher
had concluded TO cut short II bad bargain and
settle up. In this way the clique raked IN
some more profits, and was counting on "a
great inflow az the end of the month.
But the clique was reckoning without its
host. For some reason probably an outcrop.
ping of that disincination to being led around
by the nose which all Chicago SPECTATORS are
possessed Of a large number of rich and hold
operators here not only refused to tail on
after the clique, but fought the conspirators
men oy in'n ms, n,s o%a' part, was P'"ef
eiiui on, i:l.,; an. no. aoie "